Shutter mechanism



R. A. ILG

SHUTTER MECHANISM Feh 5 s Filed March 5, 1923 ATTORNEY To all whom itmay concern:

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ROBERT A. ILG, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JILG ELECTRIC VENTILATKNGcouiram, or 'cnrcaco, rumors,

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Application filed March it, 19%. Serial No. 622,489.

Be it known that I, ROBERT A. Inc, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Shutter Mechanism, of

" which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates toshutter mecha- 'nisms, and is designed mainlyfor use in connection with shutter devices employed in association withventilating fans such as are located in suitable openings in externalwalls of buildings for discharging gases and foul air from thelatter. Inapparatus of this type it is quitecommonly the practice to employopposite the discharge side of the fan a shutter to normally close theopening when the. fan is idle. In some instances the shutter vanes arepositively opened and closed throughelectrical or other actuating means,as, for instance, in the shutter mechanism disclosed inill'etters PatentNo. 957,776, granted to me May 10, 1910, and mother instances theshutters are so constructed and mounted as to be opened by the blast ofthe fan, and closed by gravity when the fan is idle, as, for instance,in the shutter mechanism disclosed in Letters. Patent No. 1,189,572,granted to me July 4., 1916.

y present invention relates to shutter mechanism of the last namedstitutes a improvement on the subject matter of. the aforesaid LettersPatent No. 1,189,572. In the last named patent equal opening and closingmovements of the vanes of the shutter are secured by levers mounted onthe shutter spindles, said levers having dependingarms lying oppositethe side edges of the shutter vanes with inwardly turned forked endsthatembrace the shutter vanes, and rearwardly extending arms connectedtogether by a thus compelled toopen or close simultaneously and to anequal extent. I have found in practice that with long continued wear theforked ends of the vane-operatin levers wear and cut through the thinmeta of the tilt) type, and conlink, so that all the vanes are overlapon the I the construction of my aforesaid patentin both. of these respects.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide animproved structure of shutter blade or vane that will afi'ord'increasedstrength-and stiffness to the latter with but a'trifling addition ofmetal and fabrication.

Still other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will beapparent to persons skilled in the art as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which 1 haveillustrated one practical and approved embodiment of the invention, andwherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation f my improved shuttermechanism applied to a ventilating opening in an external Wall of abuilding;

Fig. 2 is avertical section takenon the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail partly in elevation and partlyin Vertical section, showing two adjacent shutter vanes and theirconnections;

Fig. d is a perspective elevation of an end portion of one shutter-vaneshowing its splndle, and operating lever and link;

Figfli is an enlarged cross-sectional detail taken on the line 55 ofFig. 1; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail taken on theline 6-6 of Fig. 1; 1

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates an external wall of a building,in which is. 'formed a ventilating opening 11. Within said openingismounted a ventilating fan tit? 12 that, in practice, is usually drivenby an electric motor ('not shown). I Secured to the outer side of thewall 10 and surrounding the ventilating opening 11 is a rectangularshutter frame designated as an entirety by 13, in and between thevertical sides 13 of which 1 are journaled a series of horizontalshutter spindles 14, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3. I

'15 designates the shutter vanes, each of which comprises a rectangularstrip of sheet metal that is mounted at its upper end on the spindle 14,preferably by'being curled around the latter as shown in Figs. 4 and 6.The lower free longitudinal edge portion of each vane 15 is folded inwarly and upwardly on itself, as shown at 15 in Fig. 6, which greatlystrengthens and stifi'ens the fill 15 bent rearwar ly and vane, and thisfolded lower edge thereof overlaps the rounded upper edge of the nextlowermost vane, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be observed that, in the constructionshown, the pivotal axes of the spindles 1d of the several-shutter vanesare located in a plane that is outward ly and downwardly inclinedrelatively to the vertical, as a result of which the vanes assume bygravity a completely closed position; but so far as the novel featuresof the present invention are concerned, the shutter vanes may he mountedin either an inclined or a vertical lane.

To secure simultaneous and equal opening and closing movements of theseveral vanes, llmount on each spindle 14 an elbow lever each having arearwardly extending arm 16 and a depending arm 17. The rearwardlyeat/ending arm 16 is pivotally connected to a link 18, as in my formerPatent No. 1,189,- 572; but the depending arms have a diderentconnection with the shutter vane which avoids wear on the latter andalso permits the side edges of the vane to overlap the .vertical edgesof the frame to adord a more perfect closure, as will next be described.

By reference to Figs. 2, d and 5 it will be observed that the metalforming each vertical marginal portion of the vane is folded back onitself forming a double thickness edge 18 which overlaps the front edgeof the side frame member 13, and an extended art of this mar inalportion of the metal folded on itself through approximately the upperhalf of the blade, thereby forming a pocket 19 integral with and lyingbehind the blade, which pocket receives the depending arm 17 of thelever, as most clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It will he observed thatthis pocket 19 lies closely alongside the inner surface of the sideframe member 13; so that, with the folded edge portion 18 it forms arectan lar joint with the frame member 13. This construction, aside fromproviding a superior joint between the shutter vanes and the frame forexcluding rain, snow, dust, etc., also greatly stiffens' and stren hensthe vane, and permits the use of lig 'ter and thinner sheet metal thanhas heretofore been practical, especially when used in conjunction withthe folded and reinforced lower margin 15. The pockets 1%), lying at aright angle to the plane of the vane constitute in edect substantiallyvertical stidening ribs which materially enhance the rigidity of thevane, indepedently of their function in co-operation with the lever arm17 The manner in which the mechanism operates when the fan is running isquite evident from the illustration and the foregoing description. Theair blast from the iaeaeee fan striking the shutter vanes swings themopen to a greater or less extent depending upon the strength of theblast; and, of course, their opening and closing movements aresimultaneous and of equal extent owing to their being interconnected bythe levers and connecting link. The instant the fan ceases to run, theshutter vanes swing by gravity to the closed position shown in Figs. 1and 2, in which they effectively guard the opening against theintroduction of wind, rain, eta, especially at the vertical edges wherethe double or l.-'oint exists.

- While l have herein shown the folded parts 18 and 19 formed asintegral extensions of the metal of the vane, it is manifest that theseparts may, if desired, consist of separate attached parts, withoutinvolving any departure from the principle of the invention orsacrificing any of its advantages. Tn other respects also the structuremay be varied within the purview of the appended claims.

it claim:

1. In a shutter mechanism, the combination of a rectangular frame, aseries of horizontal shutter spindles ournaled in and between thevertical sides of said frame, a plurality of sheet metal shutter vanessecured at their upper edge portions to said spindles and at their loweredges overlapping when in closed position, the up er edges of the nextshutter vanes there eneath, and means for and equal opening and closingmovements of said vanes com rising pockets formed on the rear sides osaid vanes, levers mounted on said spindles and each having one armthereof engagediwith one of said pockets, and a link connecting theother arms of said levers.

2. In a shutter mechanism, the combination of a rectangular frame, aseries of horizontal shutter spindles journaled in and between thevertical sides of said frame, a plurality of sheet metal shutter vanessecured at their upper edge portions to said spindles and, when closed,having their side edges overlapping the vertical sides of said frame,and means for edecting simultaneous and equal opening and closingmovements of said vanes comprising pockets formed on the rear sides ofsaid vanes inwardly of the side edges of the latter, elhow leversmounted on said spindles and having depending arms engaged with saidpockets and rearwardly extending arms, and a link connecting the saidrearwardly extending arms.

3. In a shutter mechanism, the combination of a rectangular frame, aseries of horizontal shutter spindles journaled in and beedectingsimultaneous lift llll

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tween the vertical sides of said frame, a

memes I cured at their-upper edge portions to said 'a-rilght angle jointwith said vertical sides sgindles, said vanes having inwardl ioldof teframe, elbow levers mounted'on said W 0 side edge portions overlapping te verspindles and having depending arms entical sides of" said frameand, rearwardly gaged with said pockets and rearwardly 5 bent and foldedextensions of said folded extending arms, and a link connecting the edgeportions forming substantially vertical pockets on the rear sides ofsaid vanes, said said rearwardly extending arms. e pockets andfoldededge portions forming ROBERT A. ILG.

